The World Boxing Federation enjoyed one of its greatest weekends ever with three major championship bouts pointing towards a bright future for the striving organization. In any case, 2010 is certainly closing out for the WBF in busy style.
On Friday (Dec. 10) in France, classy Yvan Mendy (Pictured) successfully defended his WBF Intercontinental light welterweight title for the first time in his hometown of Pont Sainte Maxence with a 12-round unanimous decision against tough challenger Sam Rukundo. Mendy is now 21-1 (10) and definitely ready to explode on the world scene, having won the title last summer in equally stylish fashion against Peter McDonagh.
Sam Rukundo, the Ugandan-Swede, was hard to overcome with his difficult southpaw style and a firm will to win in his own right. The closeness of the battle is reflected by the fact that the three judges could agree on the same winner in only three of the twelve rounds! However, in the end there was little doubt that Mendy deserved the unanimous verdict by scores of 116:112 (twice) and 117:111.
On the same night, but over in Dublin, Ireland, Anthony Fitzgerald picked up the recently vacated WBF Intercontinental middleweight crown with a hard-fought 12-round verdict over Englishman Kevin Hammond. The three judges had it 118:110, 117:112 and 119:109 for the new champion, but WBF UK & Ireland Representative Paul Thomas, who supervised the contest, reported:
“Despite the wide scoring this was never easy for Fitzgerald and Hammond never stopped coming forward looking to land his big punches. The crowd loved the fight!”. Fitzgerald, who improved to 10-2 (2) with 1 NC, announced that he has his eyes set on new WBF world middleweight champion Karama Nyilawila of Tanzania, who a week ago upset long-reigning title holder Kreshnik Qato.
Finally, on Saturday (Dec. 11) in Johannesburg, South Africa, WBF world super middleweight champion William Gare finally made his long-overdue fourth defense of his title, subduing compatriot Roland Francis with an impressive, but tough points win by margins of 116:112, 117:111 and 118:110. ‘Dynamite’ Gare is now 26-14 (5) and was WBF Fighter of the Year 2009. The fight at the Wembley Indoor Arena was attended by WBF President Howard Goldberg.
